


As Soft As The Trees

by ThePlace



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Duck's Birthday, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Rated T for language, Seriously this is all fluff, birthday surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-15 22:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18081992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePlace/pseuds/ThePlace
Summary: To celebrate Duck's birthday, Indrid takes him to Sylvain for a day of food, fun and a surprise or two.





	As Soft As The Trees

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with some tooth-rotting fluff, better buckle in!  
> (Also there's a two sentence vague reference to sex, but that's it, just thought I'd warn folks)

“Well if isn’t the birthday boy!”

In the darkness, Duck can just barely make out the outline of Indrid leaning against the gate to Sylvain, his red glasses reflecting the moonlight. He rolls his eyes and lets out a short laugh. “Not my birthday,” he calls back as he steps out of the treeline and makes his way over to his boyfriend. “Not for another hour or so.”

“Eh, close enough,” Indrid says and now Duck can see that his usual outfit of a white tank top and jeans has been swapped out for a deep blue, nearly black, coat with buttons trailing up each side. Underneath is a white, thin, loose shirt. Completing the look are some dark grey pants and black boots. Overall, it kinda looks like Indrid’s gearing up for the renaissance fair. Don’t get him wrong, he looks incredible, it's just unexpected. Indrid hadn’t told Duck to dress any specific way, so he hopes what he's got on works. He also notices a heavy looking backpack by his feet when he goes in for a quick kiss, but he doesn’t have time to ask about that either before Indrid steps back and smiles. “Are you ready?”

“Depends, you gonna tell me what exactly we’re doing?” The only instruction Duck had gotten about tonight was a cryptic request two days ago from Indrid, asking him to meet by the archway at 10:30 the night before his birthday. And yeah, Duck’s excited for whatever Indrid’s got planned, but his curiosity is killing him.

“Hmm, nope!” He chirps with a loud pop on the p.

With one last laugh, Duck shrugs. “Then I reckon’ I’m ready.”

This earns him another kiss and with that, Indrid heaves the backpack onto his shoulder and claps his hands together. “No time to loose then.” From Indrid’s pocket he pulls out a small mirror and Duck’s eyes immediately go wide.

“Hold on a sec, we goin’ to Sylvain?”

Indrid falters as he starts to lift the mirror over his head. “Uh yes? Was that not-” He looks down at his clothes then to the gate. “Was that not apparent?”

He feels a blush creep to his cheeks. “I um, I didn’t- Look it's not like- Thought that this-” he motions to Indrid’s outfit, “Was just, I don’t know, your fancy clothes and, sorry I-”

Mercifully, Indrid stops him before he has to explain himself further. “Duck if you don’t want to go, we won’t go, no questions asked.”

“No, no I want to go,” Duck says in a rush. “It's just, do you?”

From what Indrid’s told him, he hasn’t been back to Sylvain since he left over a century ago. Duck has no idea if returning will just make him homesick or if the court will decide that allowing their only Seer to leave was a bad idea in the first place and then not let him back to Earth. He doesn’t know how willing they’d be to use force to keep ‘em there, but he ain’t itching to find out.

Indrid looks at him for a moment, his head tilted and eyebrows furrowed. “Oh,” he says softly, the word nearly drifting away on the warm night air. He takes a step forward, reaching down and taking Duck’s hand in his own before planting a light kiss on his knuckles. “Your concern for me is touching, but I assure you, I’ll be fine.” He gestures to the backpack, still holding his hand. “I want to do this as long as you do too.”

It's Duck’s turn to plant a kiss on Indrid’s hand. “I do, but if you see even one future where Woodbridge or Janelle or Vincent or anyone really tries to cause you strife, you gotta promise to give me heads up and we’ll be outta there in no time.”

“Deal.”

And with that, Indrid turns back to the archway and lifts the mirror above his head, angling it every which way, taking a few steps forward only to take a couple of steps back again. “Sorry, I’ve never- Fuck, c’mon- Actually done this before. How Mama,” he stretches his arm far above him and stands on his tiptoes, “always gets it on the first try astounds me and- Yes!” At that moment, a blinding and beautiful light blooms out from the gate. “Shall we?” Indrid asks as he extends his arm and without hesitation, Duck takes it as the two of them walk through the gate.

A familiar wind whips through the air as the light encompasses everything around them before mere moments later, they step out into the stone pavillion housing the gate. There are two guards stationed here, one with the head of a squirrel and other a more standard sylph, like Dani is. He recognises them, in fact they’re the same guards stationed at the gate when the pine guard first came through and have been here a couple more times after that. Aubrey actually asked their names once: The squirrel is Thadius and the fellow with the fangs is Goss.

“Identification,” Goss states loudly and evenly which, honestly, Duck kinda thought they’d do away with this little show after awhile. It ain’t like they don’t recognise him or nothing, he’s one of the four humans who comes through here.

“Hey y’all,” Duck waves, before fishing his wallet out of his pocket. “Give me a sec, I know my pine guard patch is in here . . . Somewhere . . .”

Next to him, Indrid leans over and whispers. “Second inner pocket, dear.”

With a quick, “Thanks,” Duck pulls out the patch and shows it to the guards. “There, happy now?”

The two guards nod and then turn their attention to Indrid. “And you, Earthling?” Thadius voice booms. “Are you permitted to enter our domain? Where is your badge?”

Indrid’s words come out steady and confident as he responds “Do not fear, I am more than permitted to be here and-”

“Then again I ask human, where is your badge?” The guard interrupts and next to him, Indrid sighs and takes a step forward. At this, both guards raise their spears towards him. “Not another step!”

Indrid complies and Duck feels his whole body tense as he prepares to grab Indrid and jump back through the portal if necessary. The only reason he doesn’t do that immediately is that Indrid still looks relaxed, his muscles loose and posture open. “Alright, no steps then.” He makes a quick glance around the pavillion before reaching up and removing his glasses in one smooth motion.

And in less than a blink of the eye, the smell of ozone crackles through the air as Indrid’s sylph form towers above them all. Duck will admit that the first time he saw this side of Indrid, it had been, well a shock to say the least. But now, Duck just smiles up at him, admiring the swirling patterns on his wings and his four arms and-

Huh.

Those are new.

Draped across Indrid’s body are intricate black robes with large holes in the back for his wings. Red stitching borders the hem and if he squints, Duck thinks he can just make out a repeating pattern across the fabric of dozens and dozens of eyes, all just barely lighter than the black to be visible. From this angle, Duck can’t get a good look at the front, but he’d put good money on there being an image of the heart of Sylvain slapped on there too.

He looks good. Damn good. Again, not that he doesn’t usually or nothin’. But  . . . _Damn_.

However, it seems some very different thoughts are racing through the guard’s heads because Goss immediately drops his spear and as it clatters to the stone, Thadius bends down in a deep bow. “Our humblest apologies, sir” he squeaks out before glancing over to where his fellow guard is still upright and staring at Indrid. He chitters something to him and then as if he touched a live wire, Goss jerks down into a bow as well.

Indrid’s shoulders are tight and his upper hands reach down and grab the lower set. “No- No, no need for that, please. You don’t have to bow. It’s fine. Really.”

Luckily, Goss and Thadius actually listen and after a second to collect their spears, stand back upright. “We had no idea when you would be returning Court Seer Cold, we will alert the ministers and the interpreter at once of-”

“That won’t be necessary,” Indrid quickly says, his voice tinged with something Duck can’t quite place. “I have made much progress on Earth, but there is still much more to learn before I come back to Sylvain. Telling the ministers of my return would do nothing more than raise their hopes before they are dashed. So why don’t we just keep my presence here between the four of us?” And with that, Indrid puts his glasses back on. “Hmm?”

“But, the ministers . . .”  Goss trails off.

“Don’t need to know. I will be on Sylvain for no more than a few hours. Myself and this member of the Pine Guard-” he nods back to Duck. “-need to conduct some research that will be extremely valuable for both our worlds and the futures I foresee where the city is made aware of my presence hold numerous complications to our mission.”

By now, Duck is grinding his teeth. Indrid’s a good liar, but the guards still don’t look too convinced. Apparently, Indrid notices this too because he just shrugs and picks up the backpack he brought. “How about this, I’ll give you everything in this backpack if you don’t tell anyone I’m here?” and then he unzips it.

Although Duck can’t see what’s inside, whatever it is must be good because Goss and Thadius suddenly sport matching looks of wonder. Curiosity gettin’ the better of him, Duck walks up to take a peek inside and honestly, has to stop himself from laughing.

The backpack is filled with what Duck can only describe as what a middle schooler would pack for a sleepover. There are chips and candy and soda and little packaged cakes, a few decks of playing cards, Scrabble, a book, and even a polaroid camera. And that’s just the main pouch, who knows what the other pockets contain.

“Do we have a deal?” Indrid asks, the corners of his mouth just barely curling up.

In response, the guards just nod in unison and Indrid hands over the bag. “Pleasure doing business with you.” He then turns to Duck and smiles, extending his arm. “Shall we?”

“You read my mind.” He loops his arm through Indrid’s, the two of them walking down the steps of the pavillion and leaving the two guards to root through the backpack. Once they’re far enough away, Duck turns to Indrid and asks, half-laughing, “Did you just bribe some guards for my birthday?”

“Hmm, I prefer _incentivised_ ,” Indrid corrects, drawing another laugh out of Duck. “To be honest, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that. In just over half of the futures I could see, they just accepted my word and nothing else.”

“But junk food though?”

“Oh certainly, Earth goods like those are highly coveted here. Saying they’re essentially impossible to come by is an understatement though. I’d honestly recommend bringing twinkies with you whenever you, Ned or Aubrey crosses over. Can get you out of some ah, sticky situations.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Duck comments. “Also, those robes of yours certainly were something. Didn’t realise how good you look in black darlin’.”

“Oh that old thing,” Indrid preens. “It was my official court attire. I’ve had it stashed at the back of my drawer for quite some time.”

“And this?” Duck rubs his fingers up Indrid’s jacket.

“Oh, um yes, I actually had to borrow this from one of the lodge residents. Thought that dressing in a typical Sylvain style would draw less attention to me, make it more believable that I’m just a sylph showing you around. Also,” Indrid adds on, his face slightly flushing. “I will need help undressing from my robes when we return home. Four arm holes are a bit tricky to navigate, let alone the entire wing situation.”

Duck smiles. “Hmm, think I can be uh, what word did ya use- _incentivised_ into gettin’ you out of your clothes.”

Just as they reach the end of the steps, Indrid leans over and murmurs, voice low and filled with promise of things to come, “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to return the favor.”

And with that, they step into the city proper. Despite it being night back on Earth, it's the middle of the day here and the city is humming with activity. All around them, sylphs are strolling along in the sunshine as a light melody thrums out from a nearby musician playing an instrument Duck could not name if he tried. The door to a restaurant is propped wide open and the scents drifting out make his mouth water. There’s a few outdoor stalls, one sellin’ scarves and hats in all sorts of colors, another’s got beaded jewelry, and a thirds displaying . . . Well Duck don’t wanna say _potions_ but they are all glass bottles filled with shimmering liquids sealed with wax, so . . . Yeah honestly potions.

Next to him, Indrid makes a noise as he looks out across the town. “It's just as I remember.”

Duck gives his hand a gentle squeeze. “You good?”

“Hmm? Oh yes, of course.” And when Indrid turns and smiles at him, Duck knows he’s telling the truth. “Are you hungry? There’s a bakery not two blocks from here that I used to go to. If we head over now, we should arrive just as a fresh batch of cookies has finished cooling.”

Another squeeze to his hand. “Well then what are we waiting for? Lets go get us some cookies.”

“I will warn you though,” Indrid begins as they start to weave their way through the streets. “They will taste different than what you’re expecting.”

“That ain’t ever stopped me before. Remember those cookies Jake made? With the-”

“With the gatorade?” Indrid finishes.

They turn a corner and over the tops of the buildings, Duck can see the familiar orange of the heart of Sylvain. Indrid doesn’t look at it and Duck decides not to bring it up. “Yep. The noise Barclay made when he saw Jake pouring in blue gatorade to the dry ingredients is one I’ll cherish forever.”

Indrid laughs. “In his defense, I thought they weren’t half bad.”

“Not sure how much that means coming from the man who puts three cups of sugar into a single glass o’ lemonade.”

Bringing his hand to his chest, Indrid puts on a face of mock hurt. “I’ll have you know that my lemonade is delicious.

“Darlin’, it ain’t even lemonade at that point. It’s soggy sugar I’m sorry to say.”

“Well,” Indrid huffs, trying to hide the smile playing on his lips. “More for me then.”

They make it to the bakery and Indrid was right, both about the timing and the cookies bein’ different than what Duck expected. He’s not even sure how to describe the flavor. What he can say is that they’re fucking delicious and Indrid is only too happy to get back in line with him to buy more.

After that, they wander the city streets, stopping to look in shop windows or buy more food. Occasionally, Indrid will point out buildings to him, one the school he attended as a child, another a small cafe where he used to go to draw, stories going along with each.

“-So at this point, I’m clinging to the spire of the clocktower, at least 200 feet up, too afraid to let go, with a crowd gathering beneath me.” Indrid recalls as they continue down the street. “Eventually the guards had to go find my mother so she could fly up and get me."

“Reckon she wasn’t too pleased about that?” Duck asks around a mouth full of cookie.

He nods. “She was most certainly not. But truth be told, I think she and my father were at least slightly impressed that I had managed to fly up so high when I was still quite young, but . . .”

Duck is about to ask if he got in trouble with the guards too, but then they round a curve in the road and suddenly, Duck spots a sprawling park across the street from them, trees growing high into the sky and stretching further then he can see.

“Please tell me we’re headin’ in there?” Duck marvels as he glances from Indrid to woods ahead.

Indrid’s smile is playful when he says, “Actually I thought we’d just go back now, no need to explore an alien forest or anything. Besides,” he turns around and starts to pretend to actually walk away. “We might be able to catch the end of Saturday Night Dead if we-”

He’s interrupted by Duck grabbing his hand and gently spinning him around. “Teasin’ me on my birthday?” He tsks. “Ain't exactly fair, now is it?”

Indrid flashes him a grin and taps on Duck’s watch, not even glancing down at it before saying, “I thought you said it wasn’t your birthday yet?”

He checks the time and- Yep. 11:37pm.

Not so easily defeated, Duck leans in closer, countering, “And I thought you said that it was close enough?”

Indrid laugh rings out high and light as he tilts his head slightly back. “You’ve got me there. Let’s go then, hm?”

And with that, the two of them cross the street, their pace a bit faster than the rest of the crowds due to how fast Duck is walking. He can’t help it. Wasn’t exactly everyday he gets the chance to really examine alien trees. Whenever he’s come to Sylvain before, there was never time to stop and observe the flora.

Finally, they reach the tree line and in an instant, Duck is up close and personal with the trees. Their overall structure is strikingly familiar to the types of trees they got out in the monongahela,  but there are still noticeable differences. The majority of these trees have bark that’s an off white color with tiny strips of a deep, royal blue running up and down the length of the trunk, most of which look an average of twenty, maybe thirty feet high. As Duck looks up at the canopy of leaves, it takes him a second to realise that their golden hue isn’t just some trick of the light, but their actual color. And when he says gold, he ain’t talking about how the leaves back on Earth turn yellow come fall, but honest to god _shiny_ , _metallic_ , _gold._

“This is incredible!” He says as he moves from tree to tree, looking at their root systems, any moss covering their trunks, basically everything and anything his eyes can take in. “The leaves- Do they not have any chlorophyll? Or is this their version of that? Do they change colors with the seasons? Do y’all even have seasons? And this here blue in the bark, what-” He taps one of the veins of the color and nearly gasps when instead of a hard rough wood like he was expecting, a soft, almost spongy material gives way under his fingertips. “What the hell?” Quick as a whip, he spins around to Indrid and just as he’s about to say how amazing this all is, he takes in his boyfriend.

Because Indrid’s not looking at the trees, probably hasn’t been this whole time. He’s staring at Duck with the biggest smile possible, and the only word that comes to mind is lovestruck. At this thought, the smile Duck had been sporting grows bigger and he doesn’t need to see his reflection in Indrid’s glasses to know he looks lovestruck too. He can feel it.

“I um, take it you like them then?” Indrid asks softly, his smile softer.

For a second, Duck doesn’t even say anything, just gestures vaguely around him. “Like them? Indrid this is . . . This is incredible! Can’t even begin to say how amazing this is!”

Indrid adjusts his glasses and rocks forward once. “There’s more, you know?”

Honestly, Duck has no idea if ‘more’ means more trees or more places to go, but whatever he’s got in mind, Duck’s 100% on board. Carefully stepping over the roots of the trees, Duck makes his way over to Indrid and gives him a kiss. “Lead the way then.”

Without another word, they start walking deeper into the trees. “You wanted to know about the leaves, correct?” Indrid asks after about thirty seconds of walking.

Duck gives him a look. “Uh-huh, you know about ‘em?”

“Not only that,” he pauses to step over a root. “I can answer all your questions about the trees here.” Then, before Duck has time to question him, Indrid continues. “I might have looked to see the most likely questions you would have about the trees and while one or two I knew from my schooling here, the rest I asked to Dani so she could explain the answers to me before I took you here.”

Duck feels a warmth bloom through his chest that slowly envelops his whole body. For a few moments, neither speaks, the rustling of leaves and the singing of birds and the beating of their hearts the only sounds they hear.

Finally, Duck speaks. “Well then, better put your knowledge to the test, huh?”

The next ten minutes is spent with Indrid answering every question that springs to mind, often stopping for Duck to get a better look at an interesting piece of moss or bush. And no matter how many questions he asks, Indrid still has that same smile on his face, never faltering, not even for a second.

Eventually, they reach a small clearing and Indrid takes a second to look around before saying, “We’re here!” Duck then finds himself sitting on a rather large rock, Indrid pressed against his side. “Okay, so you’re going to want to look right-” He draws out the word as he surveys the trees in front of them. “-There!” He finally finishes, pointing to a branch about fifteen feet up the tree closest to them.

“What am I looking’ at?” Duck asks although he does keep his eyes trained on the branch.

“You’ll see, just . . . about . . . Now!”

And just as Indrid says ‘now’, a bird flies down and perches on the branch. Duck would clock it in at about a foot in length, and to be honest, it really reminds him of a parrot, especially from its beak shape. However, that ain’t what really catches his eye. Nah, that goes to its feathers. The main part of its body is a vibrant, iridescent green, the tips darker than the rest. Then at the neck, the plumage turns into a striking yellow which in turn changes to a reddish-orange near the face, all made even more apparent by the white tree bark behind it. From the branch, the bird lets out a chirp and begins to preen itself. It is truly beautiful, unlike anything he’s ever seen-

Wait.

 

No.

 

That’s not right.

 

He _has_ seen something like this before, only in books, but still . . .

 

Duck opens and closes his mouth a few times, trying to get his brain to comprehend what he is seeing. “That’s-” He mumbles. “That’s- That’s a-”

“A Carolina Parakeet,” Indrid finishes for him.

“But uh, that’s not- That ain’t possible.” He swallows and tries to control his words. “The last one died a hundred years ago. I didn’t think I’d ever get to see one. Hell, they were declared extinct in 19-fucking-39!”

“Extinct on Earth perhaps, but here” he makes a motion around them. “Here on Sylvain they’re thriving. Quite a few of them crossed over a while back and made their home here. They’re doing rather well if you ask me.” He lifts his glasses to get a better view of the bird. “I remember you mentioning how they used to live all across the eastern United States and how sad it was that they were all gone. It took me a while to figure out that the Carolina Parakeets and these birds are one and the same. We have a different name for them of course and-”

And then Indrid turns to him and whatever he was going to say next is replaced by a soft, “Duck?”

Which to be fair, he understands the confusion. Duck is just staring at the bird, his hands covering his mouth, his breathing heavy and deep. He might be slightly trembling too. Are there fat tears welling up and threatening to spill down his cheeks? Maybe. He isn’t sure.

“Oh this is too much, isn’t it?” Indrid voice grows apologetic. “I’m sorry I thought you would enjoy this, I just assumed-” He fiddles with his glasses. “This is nothing but a painful reminder, I shouldn’t have- We can go home if you want? Or go back to the city? Whatever you-”

“Indrid,” Duck finally manages to get out and immediately Indrid stops talking. “This is . . .  One of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me.”

Indrid breathes. “Truly?”

He lets out a short laugh as he rubs at his eyes. “Yeah. I mean, you bribed some guards so you could show me ‘round your hometown, became a sorta tree expert to answer my questions and then not only remembered an extinct, or well, not so extinct bird I mentioned maybe once or twice, but actually found one for me to see.” He points to where the Carolina Parakeet is still perched to make his point. “I honestly can’t think of a better day.”

And then he’s leaning forward and kissing him, hoping to convey the intense warmth and passion coursing through him without words. Indrid responds with equal intensity, their lips moving slowly against each other, Indrid’s hands caressing his cheek.

“I love you,” Indrid says when they break apart.

Smiling, Duck whispers back. “I love you too.”

They sit there together, watching the Carolina Parakeet, marvelling when even more fly down to join it. After a few minutes pass, Indrid suddenly looks up from the rough sketch he was making of the bird and turns to Duck.

“Hey.”

“Mhmm?”

And then Indrid reaches over and taps his watch just as it hits 12:00am.

“Happy Birthday Duck.”

And it truly was.

**Author's Note:**

> This honestly started out as a short text post about there probably being extinct animals on Sylvain and then grew and grew into this. It was a lot of fun to write even though I know literally nothing about trees or birds, two pretty major things here. Also fun fact, this was originally set in the forest outside the city walls until I remembered the line from Dani about the "corruption beyond the cities borders" and I thought that maybe a big city park would do better.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed this! I have some other taz amnesty fics in this works so lets see if I can actually buckle down and finish them . . .


End file.
